The Puxico School Board approved the school calendar for the 2020-21 school year and changed the school’s food service provider.
Puxico Schools received bids from its current food service provider OPAA and Aramark. Superintendent Cindy Crabb traveled with a group of students and staff to Chaffee Schools, who uses Aramark, to sample the products Aramark provides. Crabb stated the students were given a choice daily of pizza, burger or sandwich, salad bar and panini bar with three choices of bread. Additionally there is a different main menu meal each day.
Crabb stated about 30 percent of Puxico students bring their lunch each day. While at Chaffee only one student had a lunch brought from home while Puxico personnel were in attendance. Crabb also stated they received positive reviews from the Chaffee staff in regards to Aramark.
The bid submitted by each company was a five-year bid. Aramark comes in a little higher in year one due to a higher cost for the breakfast meals with a bids of $409,916 to OPAA’s $402,475. However the yearly increase on the OPAA bid is higher than the Aramark bid.
The total five-year bid for OPAA came in at $2,156,400 compared to Aramark’s $2,150,816, meaning with the Aramark bid the district would save almost $6,000. The board voted to accept the Aramark bid.
The board also accepted the 2020-21 school calendar. The calendar will consist of 168 days starting on Aug. 26 and ending on May 21 with high school graduation on May 14.
Crabb also stated that the district is looking at insurance options. However, with the split between Saint Francis Medical Center and United Healthcare the options are more limited. She said the staff would get together at a later date to make decisions on the matter.
The preschool and Parents as Teachers (PAT) programs were reviewed during the meeting. The programs were evaluated based on information gathered from committee reports, student input, parent involvement, follow-up studies, core data, state/federal programs and facility and maintenance needs. The school board approved the evaluation of both programs.